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An escalator malfunction left 10 people seriously hurt Wednesday afternoon at the Convention Center.

Andrea DeLaune, convention center spokeswoman, said one person with possibly life-threatening injuries and nine others with serious injuries were taken to area hospitals about 1 p.m. shortly after the incident.

Five others refused hospital treatment.

The incident occurred in Exhibit Hall D where a Dish Network convention was taking place. Everyone was cleared out of the hall.

A Dish Network representative instructed media to leave the section of the convention center that the company had rented for the event.

DeLaune said that afternoon that it was not yet clear what caused the accident, only saying that the escalator malfunctioned and shut off. She could not immediately say when the broken escalator would be repaired.

Another escalator malfunction during a Game Stop convention in August sent at least 12 people to the hospital, according to Express-News archives. That incident occurred on the last day of the Game Stop convention, which drew about 8,000 people.

No one was critically wounded.

Escalators are routinely inspected, DeLaune said.

“We're very serious about safety,” she said.

Since 2007, escalator owners in San Antonio have reported at least seven accidents that have caused scrapes, falls and at least one amputation of a 3-year-old child's two fingers, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees escalator and elevator safety in Texas.